Refrigerator



C. A. KUEBLER REFRIGERATOR Filed Nov. 29, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Cfiesier A. Met/e1."

AQATTORNEY;

Dec. 22, 1936.

c. IUEBLER REFRIGERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'INVENTOR. 1 Chester/l. lfueb/erL 4+ ATTORNEYS.

Filed Nov. 29, 1933 Patented Dec. 22, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,064,926 REFRIGERATOR Chester A. Kuebler, Eric, Pa. Application November 29, 1933, Serial No. 700,232 8 Claims. (01. 62-89) This invention pertains to refrigerators and more particularly to refrigerators'adapted for domestic or similar uses. I

The conventional type domestic refrigerator comprises a unitary cooling chamber, all parts of which are maintained at substantially the same temperature, neglecting a slight variation in temperature between the top and bottom portions of the chamber due to convection by air 10 currents.

Various food stuffs stored in the chamber are necessarily subjected to the same conditions of temperature and humidity whereas it is found that for most efficient and economical preserva- 15 tion of food stuffs that differing conditions of temperature and humidity should be provided. For example, meat to be properly preserved requires a lower temperature than eggs, vegetables and various fruits. Again, the coils of the evaporator or cooling unit absorb moisture from the air in the chamber and this renders vegetables containing a large amount of water, such as lettuce, celery, spinach etc. and various fruits too dry to be properly edible.

I have devised an improved refrigerator having a horizontally movable drawer disposed in a chamber adjacent to and in communication with a main cooling chamber, and the air therein may be maintained at a relatively higher temperature 30 than in the main chamber and at a greater degree of humidity, thereby solving the problem hereinbefore described of maintaining food stuffs at different conditions of temperature and humidity.

The horizontal cooling drawer is movable outwardly from the refrigerator cabinet and thus permits all the' articles disposed therein to be easily viewed: and to be accessible without pro- .jecting an arm into the interior of the cooling 4o chamber and without moving numerous other articles to obtain a desired article.

Furthermore, such a construction effects a considerable economy of operation since it is not necessary to expose the entire cooling chamber 45 to external room temperature by opening the chamber door when it is desired to secure frequently used articles or food stuffs. The cold air in a cooling chamber being disposed at the bottom of the chamber will immediately drop to 50 the floor and be replaced by warm air upon opening of the chamber door, and by my improved construction the necessity for opening the door to the main cooling chamber is relatively infrequent.

.65 It is an object of my invention therefore to provide a refrigerator having cooling chambers subjected to differing conditions of temperature and humidity.

Another object of my invention is to provide a refrigerator which is relatively economical to 5 operate.

Another object of my invention is to provide a more convenient and accessible disposition'of articles in a refrigerator than has heretofore been provided.

Another object of my invention is to provide an auxiliary cooling drawer for refrigerators subjected to a relatively higher temperature than the main cabinet and adapted to be supportingly moved outwardly from the cabinet.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved refrigerator means for maintaining vegetables and the like in a crisp condition and which is more conveniently accessible than prior crisping chambers.

These and other objects of my invention will become increasingly apparent from a consideration of the following description and drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a. front elevational view of a refrigerator incorporating a preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a medial vertical ectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of latch mechanism which I may employ shown in a locking position;

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the latch mechanism 3 of Fig. 4 shown in an unlocked position;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a modified type of drawer which I may employ;

Fig. '7 is an elevational view of a modification of my invention similar to the embodiment 40 illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 but applied to a refrigerator of the top-mounted compressor unit yp Fig. 8 is an elevational view of a further modification of my invention as applied to a topmounted compressor type refrigerator;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line 9-9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along lines ill-l0 of Fig. 3; and, 5 Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view taken along lines ll-ll of Fig. 9.

Referring now to the drawings, I have indicated generally at I, Fig. 1, a refrigerator cabinet provided with a conventional compressor unit 2 oi inted' at the bottom of the cabinet, 9. main cooling chamber 3 disposed above the compressor unit, and a conventional evaporator unit or cooling unit 4 disposed within the chamber 3 and preferably secured to the upper wall of the chamber.

The means employed to cool chamber 3 or the location of'such means relative to the chamber constitutes no essential part of my invention and it is understood that any desired means or relative location may be employed.

The walls of. chamber 3 as best illustrated in Figs. 2 and3 are suitably insulated and are pref- I erably internally lined with sheet metal or the like.

In my improved construction I provide an aux iliary chamber 5 adjacent to and beneath the chamber 3 by extending the back wall 6 downwardly a distance equal to the desired height of the auxiliary chamber to meet a base i which is In my preferred construction, the sheet metal or the like lining is carried horizontally from the bottom face of the bar 8 to the rear wall 6, thereby forming a partition l0 intermediate chambers 3 and 5.

Disposed within chamber 5 is a generally boxshaped drawer H preferably formed of sheet metal, open at the top and lined at the front face of the drawer with insulating material of suitable thickness as indicated at i2. The outer face of drawer ll comprises a generally rectangular shaped preferably sheet metal element i3 extending peripherally beyond the drawer proper a suificient distance to effect a sealing engagement with the front face of the refrigerator. I preferably provide a peripheral strip of suitable sealing material on the inner face of element id as indicated at l4 to insure an efiective seal when the drawer is in a closed position. The element i3 has secured thereto a suitable handle '15 whereby the drawer may be moved ,outwardiyand inwardly relative to the cabinet.

To effect easy operation of the drawer H, I

preferably provide rollers l6 aflixed to drawer ll adjacent the rear wall thereof and so as to engage the top and bottom walls of chamber 5, and I preferably provide four such rollers, two on each side of the drawer. I also recess base 1 adjacent the front face of the cabinet to provide suitable mounting for rollers ii adapted to engage the under side'of drawer ii. The drawer may thus be easily moved without any danger of binding; and to prevent accidental removal of the drawer completely from the chamber, I may provide stops l8 inserted in the under side of bar 8 spaced so as to engage top rollers IS. The drawer may be removed for cleaning purposes and the like by moving it outwardly and tilting the outer end upwardly so that rollers l 6 may clear stops iii.

In order to maintain the drawer ii in sealing engagement with the cabinet when in a closed position, I provide a recess in back 6 and secure therein an upsta nding' lip 20 and provide a latch roller 2|.

Zia. The latch element 2| a is pivotally mounted .as indicated at 22 and so as to engage roller 2|.

Secured to the latch element 2la intermediate the pivot 22 and the roller-engaging notched portion is one end of a tension spring 22a, the opposite spring end being secured to the base of the 'recess in any suitable manner and in such a position relative tothe pivot 22 that, as illustrated in Fig. 4, it will urge the latch element 2la in a counter-clockwise direction to maintain the drawer sealed and when the drawer is moved outwardly the latch element will be urged in a clockwise direction and maintained in abutting relation with lip 28 and in a position to re-engage I There is thus provided a simple and positive latching mechanism for maintaining the drawer in a sealed position.

The partition I0 is provided with cooling slots as indicated at 12, affording communication with the cold air current in chamber 3. These slots are preferably positioned adjacent the side walls of the cabinet .as illustrated since the normal direction of the current as viewed in Fig. 1 would be downwardly from the base of the evaporator unit as the air is cooled, thence along the base of the chamber 3 in a direction toward the left, and thence upwardly and along the top of the chamber to the evaporator unit; and by thus positioning the slots, advantage may be taken of the direction of air current to effect movement of cooling air through chamber 5.

( To control the relative amount of cooling air moving through chamber 5, I provide individually operable covers for the slots, the covers preferably comprising rectangular sheet metal strips 23 slidably positioned intermediate grooves formed by partition I0 and relatively narrow strips indicated at 2d and secured to the lining in any suitable manner such as welding.

Although I have chosen to illustrate the control means as being individually operable, I contemplate that they may be jointly operable and further that they may be automatically operable responsive to thermostatic means disposed within chamber 5'.

As previously described, these cooling air currents have a tendency to absorb moisture from vegetables and fruits containing a high percentage of water, and deposit the moisture on the. coils of the evaporator unit. This not only tends to render such vegetables-and fruits excessively dry and beyond a desirable point, but the mois- I ture deposited upon the coils acts as an insulating medium preventing efiicient refrigeration and necessitating more frequent defrosting of the coils. By controlling the rate and quantity of air currents, this dehydrating process can be reduced to a desirable point and such vegetables and the like maintained in a crisp condition.

Although the embodiment of my invention as described acts as a crisping chamber, it may be desirable to limit the dehydrating effect to a still greater degree without raising the temperature to which eggs and the like stored in the drawer are subjected, and in the drawer illustrated in Fig. 6 I provide a central partition 30, preferably formed of sheet metal, and additional partitions 3| formed of wire mesh in one of the two compartments thus formed. The central partition 30 is provided with ports as indicated at 30a.

Compartment 32 of the drawer may be utilized as the crisping chamber for vegetables and the like since cooling air currents will not pass therethrough as readily as compartment 320. I contemplate also that additional individually controllable ports may be positioned in partition ill adjacent to and on either side of partition 30 to variably control the dehydrating and cooling effect of air currents traversing compartments 32 and 32a. Compartment 32 maybe provided with a suitable cover for enclosing the vegetables and the like.

Referring now to Fig. 7, I have shown my invention as applied to a refrigerator of the topmounted compressor type, the compressor unit indicated at 45 being disposed above the main coolingchamber 3. This modification is similar to that illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and I prefer that the drawer be positioned at substantially the same height from the floor and that to com- ,pensate for the top mounting that the height of the refrigerator be increased or the base of the main cabinet be raised. Otherwise the construction and operation is similar to the embodi- .ment illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

Referring now to Figs. 8 and 9, I have illustrated a still further modification of my invention as applied to a refrigerator of the topmounted compressor type and wherein the auxiliary chamber as indicated at 50' is disposed intermediate the compressor unit 5| and the main cooling cabinet 3. 1 preferably provide vertical sheet metal guide strips 52-52 secured to the base of the chamber 50 and spaced inwardly from the chamber side walls which perform the dual function of acting 'as a guideway for drawer 55 and directing air currents .entering the chamber through ports 55 over to the top of the drawer, the air currents being drawn from the chamber through ports 56.

Drawer 54 is similar to drawer H and a similar sealing and latching means is provided there- I for. The ports 55 and 56 are disposed intermediate guide strips 52 and the chamber side walls and in a preferably sheet metal base 51 of chamber 50. The ports 55 and 58 are individually controllable by slidable strips 58 as previously described in connection with Figs. 1, 2 and 3.-

It should be noted that the direction of cooling air currents in the main cabinet is such as. to draw air downwardly from auxiliary cabinet 54 through ports 55 into the main cabinet.

In the vaious embodiments I have chosen to illustrate the auxiliary chamber as being adapted to one drawer-but it is understood that a plurality of drawers may be similarly disposed therein by suitably enlarging the auxiliary chamber.

Althoughf preferably provide guide strips 52 to direct the cooling air currents over the top of the drawer, I contemplate that these may be dispensed with and the drawer 54 extend to the chamber side walls as in the aforementioned embodiments and the ports will be controllable by.

strips slidably positioned on the under side of base 51 and accessible through the main cabimerous and extensive departures may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit of rearwardly of the inner wall of the drawer for maintaining the drawer in the sealed position, the latch means being rendered inoperable by an outwardly directed pull on the drawer above a predetermined amount.

2. In a refrigerator, a main cabinet having a cooling unit disposed therein, an auxiliary cabinet disposed above the main cabinet, 8. drawer adapted to be horizontally and sealingly disposed in said auxiliary cabinet, guide means for 'said drawer spaced from the auxiliary cabinet side walls and generally parallel therewith and extending upwardly substantially to ,the top of the drawer, and variably controllable ports in the auxiliary cabinet base intermediate the guide means and its corresponding side wall.

3. In a refrigerator, a main chamber having a cooling unit disposed therein adjacent a lateral wall, an auxiliary chamber beneath the main chamber and in communication therewith, means for variably controlling theadmission of cooling air currents from the main chamber to the auxiliary chamber and the return of said currents to the main chamber, and a drawer sealingly disposed in the auxiliary chamberand movable outwardly therefrom, said current traversing the drawer from a point of admission adjacent the said lateral wall of the main chamber to a point of return adjacent the opposite lateral wall.

4. In a refrigerator, a main compartment having a cooling unit disposed therein, an auxiliary compartment beneath the main compartment, means variably effecting communication of cooling air currents along a closed path between the compartments, a drawer sealingly disposed within the auxiliary compartment and movable outwardly therefrom, and means disposed at the rear wall of the auxiliary compartment engageable by the drawer automatically latching the drawer in the sealed position upon the drawer reaching a predetermined inward positlon.

. 5. In a refrigerator, an auxiliary compartment adapted to communicate with the main cooling compartment, a drawer disposed within the auxiliary compartment and movable outwardly. therefrom, latch means disposed rearwardly of the drawer for automatically latching the drawer in sealed position with the auxiliary compartment upon-inward movement thereof to a predetermined position, the latch means being rendered inoperable to maintain the drawer in latched position by. an outwardly directed pull on the drawer greater than a predetermined amount, and said latch means permitting complete removal'and re-insertion of the drawer.

6. In a refrigerator, a main chamber having a cooling unit disposed therein and adjacent the top thereof whereby cooled air will traverse a I downward path to a portion or the cabinet base beneath the cooling unit, thence along the base and upwardly along a lateral wall of the chamber to the cooling unit completing the cooling cycle, an auxiliary chamber beneath the main 4 chamber, means eflecting communication ,of cooling air currents from the main chamberto the auxiliary chamber" comprising an entry port in the main chamber base disposed substantially beneath the "cooling unit and a return port in said base disposed a substantial distance laterally from the entry port and adjacent a lateral wall of the main chamber, the auxiliary chamber being inaccessible from the main chamber and isolated therefrom except by said ports, and a drawer sealingly disposed in the auxiliary chamber and movable outwardly therefrom with the peripheral portions of the drawer enclosing, said ports whereby the cooling air will traverse the drawer.

. I 7. In a refrigerator, a main chamber having a cooling unit'therein, a relatively smaller chamber'beneath the main chamber, a wall separating the chambers, 'a hinged closure member for the main chamber, a sliding closure member for the smaller chamber, each chamber being accessible for the removal or insertion of articles only through its associated closure member, an air entry passageway effecting communication between the chambers disposed substantially beneath the cooling unit, and an air exit passageway disposed a substantial distance laterally oi the entry passageway and adjacent a'lateral wall of the main chamber whereby cooling air from the main chamber may enter the smaller chamber, traverse the smaller chamber laterally, and return to the main chamber.

8. In a refrigerator, a main refrigerated chamber having a cooling unit disposed therein, a relatively smaller chamber beneath the main chamber, a hinged closure member for the main chamber, a sliding closure member for the smaller chambeneach chamber being accessible through its associated closure member without'disturbing the position 0! the closur member for the other chamber, an air 'ent passageway effecting communication between the chambers disposed substantially beneath the cooling unit, an air exit passageway disposed a substantial distance laterally of the air 'entry passageway and adjacent a lateral wall of the main chamber, the chambers being isolated except for said passageways whereby cooling air from the main chamber will enter the smaller chamber, traverse the smaller chamberlaterally, and return to the main chamber.

cnas'mn a KUEBLER. 

